Page 39 of Forbidden Bonds
Chapter Sixteen
Larissa
Rhett’s in shock. I understand how he feels. I remember going through the same thing myself. Only, I was the first of my kind, and when it happened to me, I thought I was losing my mind. What we don’t yet know is whether Rhett can read everybody’s mind, or only mine. We’re already connected—bonded. I would sense emotions from him anyway, and he from me. But this is different. Deeper. He plucked a scene right out of my head, maybe out of Ethan’s. In that heightened moment, I was in his thoughts as much as my own, reliving the nightmare through a dual perspective.
We’ll have to learn to live with it. Unlike alphas, it’s not natural for an omega to shield. And even if it were, we don’t have time to figure it out when there are much bigger things at stake.
I get dressed in clothes sourced by Lucian with unfathomable speed. New underwear, jeans and sneakers—Rhett’s T-shirt goes back on.
Then we adjourn to Lucian’s other office, which I discover is directly next to Rhett’s in the basement of this tower complex. A huge conference table fills one side and seated at the head of it is neither Ethan Black nor Lucian, as I might have presumed, but a mature alpha introduced to me as Woodrow Brock.
I thought Ethan was intimidating, but Woodrow Brock takes it to a whole other level. I mean, he looks like he’s a man capable of making hard decisions with people’s lives. Cold. Ruthless. I’ve seen my share of such people, so I recognize the signs even without looking into his mind.
To his right sits Lucian, then Rhett, and then me. On the other side, to Woodrow’s left, are Ethan Black, Jordan, Kade, and a man wearing a baseball cap and casual civilian clothes, who is introduced as Zeb.
Zeb’s dynamic isn’t obvious. He’s important, that much is clear.
“Let’s lay out the facts,” Brock says, taking command of the meeting. “Cohen’s arrival on Chimera poses a significant threat.”
Dread coils in my stomach. It feels like I’m being sucked down into a nightmare again. Rhett, ever sensitive, collects my hand within his. His thumb brushes lightly over the back, and his low purr steadies my nerves.
I’m not alone anymore.
Woodrow turns to Zeb with an expectant air.
“Clearance level?” Zeb asks. He appeared to be on first-name terms with both Ethan and the two deltas when we all entered the room, nodding at Lucian as if he knew him, too.
I don’t mean to snoop, but it just hits me in a sudden burst that Jordan and Kade are not merely Lucian’s enforcers…
“She can read your mind,” Woodrow points out bluntly. “Rhett is her mate, so he is likewise in the loop. Lucian and me go back a way.” His expression turns flinty. “He has a history of pissing me off as much as his gecko-loving brother.”
“You’rethe gecko?” Zeb says slowly, casting a speculative look over Rhett.
Rhett shrugs. “I usually have the T-shirt.”
Lucian snorts like he’s amused but the rest of the table stays silent.
Zeb’s gaze slams into me, specifically the bright orange T-shirt bearing a lewd gecko that I’m currently wearing.
“Don’t eyeball my mate,” Rhett grits out. Closing his fingers over the back of my neck, he manhandles me out of my seat and onto his lap.
I squeak, mortified by this development.
Zeb snaps his gaze away.
“Bring Larissa up to speed on everything pertinent to this operation in hand,” Woodrow says, breaking the tension created by Rhett’s posturing. “After ten years with them and, more importantly, connecting directly with Cohen, her insights will be invaluable. Lay out everything.”
“On it,” Zeb says. He yanks the baseball cap off his head and drops it onto the conference table before raking fingers through his hair. You’d think his hair would be messy or squashed underneath the cap, but no, it’s luxuriously thick and curly.
“Cohen docked at 0200 hours this morning. Red lights across the board as he was detected, and then he went dark. Records wiped. Designed to resemble a common bug in the system. We might have counted it as such, were it not for Larissa being here. While he appeared to be alone, and we have a blackout on what happened next, we know he has options. The Uncorrupted have connections, even a presence on this planet. More recently, they’ve begun working in collusion with thetas.”
“If you’re planning to dangle me as bait, you need to understand Cohen’s psychology. He won’t risk exposure unless he thinks he’s winning. I can help with that.”
“Exactly why you’re in this room,” Woodrow says.
He is putting the ball in my court, presenting an opportunity where I can demonstrate my value… and, more importantly, that they can trust me.
“The thetas envy the alpha stronghold and power,” I say. “They were the masterminds behind the terrorist group, Salvation. Salvation acted as an unofficial go-between for the Uncorrupted and the thetas. But then Salvation grew powerful in its own right, and they declared independence.”
